Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., decried a “toxic climate” in Washington, D.C., during MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday, that would “lower the flag for Charlie Kirk” while speaking about his father, Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died earlier this month.

Claire McCaskill, a political analyst, asked Jackson to speak about a lack of acknowledgment of his father at the Capitol.

“I would focus on Gov. McMaster of South Carolina. He’s honoring my father with the opportunity to lie in state. My father is a son of South Carolina, grew up in the Jim Crow South Carolina where he couldn’t walk on the lawns where it said ‘No Negroes,’ ‘No Blacks,’ and ‘No Jews and no dogs could walk on that lawn,'” the Democratic lawmaker said.

He continued, “What was a loss in Washington, D.C., was certainly a homecoming and a gracious overture for a gain, in South Carolina. The governor of Tennessee is lowering the flag as my father’s remains pass through the state of Tennessee when we drive from Chicago through the states en route to South Carolina.”

Congressman Jonathan Jackson speaks onstage as people protest as part of the No Kings Rallies on Oct. 18, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois.  (Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for No Kings)

Jackson went on to criticize the “toxic” climate of D.C., noting the lowering of the flag for Kirk, the conservative activist who was assassinated in September.

“There’s a very toxic climate in Washington, D.C. The same Washington, D.C., that would lower the flag for Charlie Kirk, that says the 1964 Civil Rights Act was a mistake. How can you say getting rid of biases in race and sex and religion was a mistake? How can you say it was a mistake to fully enfranchise people to be Americans? That was a pivotal piece of legislation,” he said.

He said Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans had a high tolerance for indecency.

Veteran American civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson looks after being awarded with the Legion of Honour by French President at the Élysée Palace in Paris on July 19, 2021.  (Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

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“But that’s the same Speaker, and that’s what we’re dealing with. They have a high tolerance for things that are very indecent and a very low regard for people that have been great Americans,” he said. “I’ve had a conversation with the speaker. I mean, I’ve shared my personal remarks.”

Johnson’s office denied the request by the Jackson family to allow Jesse Jackson to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, citing precedent, according to the AP.

Reverend Jesse Jackson attends the Legal Defense Fund’s 37th National Equal Justice Awards Dinner (NEJAD) at The Glasshouse on May 15, 2025, in New York City.   (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Legal Defense Fund)

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Jesse Jackson, a longtime civil rights leader, two-time Democratic presidential candidate and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, died on Feb. 17 at the age of 84.

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